Submitting to the Biennial

It's that time of year again to consider submitting to the CMCA Biennial, which I am doing for the first time this year as I have new work I want to share with the curators.

To Do List, Accomplished

Blood drawn.
Cash wihdrawn from bank.
Hair cut (agreed to "product": smelly!!).
Latte at Bell the Cat.
Gift certificate at Left Bank Books redeemed. Picked up two books to be used as prizes for the Pine Tree in March and a copy of Melissa Coleman's book This Life is in Your Hands which Bart and I have been wanting to read.
Gas tank filled: 14.557 gallons at $3.639/gal for a total of $52.97.
Visit with Cipperly at Seaport Marine Museum Library to look at journals in their collection in preparation for the workshop I will give there in April in journaling.
Quick perusal of Searsport Antiques Mall where I scored some old books to use in my work and spent over $100.
Diamond Glaze finally picked up at Fiddlehead Artisan Supply.
Matboard scraps picked up from the Belfast Framer.
Bonus: a short visit with Kat, heard about her recent concussion. Lots of people slipping and injuring themselves on the ice this winter, even though there's been so litle snow.
Hardware store to pick up a small stepladder and broom for the studio.
Late lunch with KC at the Badger. Made plans for the summer!
Hannaford's for some fresh produce and a little pot of tete a tete narcissus.
Trip to Rockland to talk to Bruce Gamage about appraising some of dad's antiques, particularly two decoys he owns. We think they came from Lizzie's barn. They will go into a June auction and hopefully fetch a month's rent.

Crazy dream

Dream last night: I was lost in a huge museum, similar to the MFA in Boston, at least the original musrum, with very high ceilings, lots of marble, no windows, like a train station on steroids. Wandering around, I was looking for Bart. A few of us (four?)stopped by a large shallow pool of water where we climbed onto floating pads the dimensions of a door. We immediately became so weak and so sleepy it was as if we had been drugged. Frightened because I could not open my eyes, I began to cry for help. Eventually I managed to garner enough strength to paddle to the edge of the pool and drag myself off the floating pad. I went searching for Bart in the cavernous empty spaces of the museum, eventually seeing him walking toward me, only to lose him again when we were clsoe to the exit and he disappeared into the crowd surrounding the entrance desk. I ran down the stairs and out a side door into the sunlight where I saw Bart walking toward me. It wasn't until I was relating the dream to Bart that I realized it was a plane crash dream.
I stood all day long in the studio yesterday which was both good and bad. Good because this meant I was hard at work on something, bad because at the end of the day my back ached as it hasn't in a long time and I had to drag out the heating pad again along with the Advil. I assume it was because of standing in one place for hours at a time. I actually have been feeling so much better overall that this took my by surprise, even though it might have been the case even without the back issues. I've been walking every day for at least an hour followed by at least a half hour of stretching and strengthening exercises. AND I have been doing my job on the curling ice, sweeping and delivering my stones with my old slide delivery, a sure sign of healing.

Happy New Year to All

jeez, a whole month has passed since I last wrote. That's what December (=Holidays) does to me every year: derails, distracts, confuses. How am I supposed to be spending my time? Cultural traditions demand one thing (and I enjoy a lot of it), commitments and emotions another. Pulls in different directions. We got my father moved into an independent living situation that helps keep my mind off his safety and welfare, though it's still important to see him. Long therapeutic walks, physical therapy, daily exercises as well as other therapies all take time. Long hours sitting in the car tend to set my healing back by days at a time; that's demanding physically. Standing is still painful after a few hours. The return to where I was is taking time, though last night when we were curling I was able to use the slide delivery again and to do some sweeping which I attrubute to the cranialsacral therapy I had yesterday. Amazing! I am headed, finally, to the studio today. This will feel normal, I hope. I'm looking forward to the winter working in my studio, preparing for a solo show I will have in the summer of 2012 at Aarhus Gallery in Belfast. I'll be teaching a few workshops, too, in the spring, so stay tuned for that!

December 1

Wow, already December. I have just harvested the last of the broccoli from our garden--unheard of so late in the year! (The deer fortunately left us the tiny tender sideshoots, prefering the coarser stalks. We had seven in our back field last night.) I walked along Appleton Ridge this morning with my neighbors and their dogs, so much more fun than walking alone, so many more laughs. Feeling blessed to live here among such wonderful people. Spending the week printing and writing Christmas cards and sending out a end-of-year holiday type letter. It seemed appropriate this year to attempt to sum up what Bart refers to as the "wacky" nature for us of the last calendar year.

Thanks giving to all

Here in Maine we've had the most beautiful fall this year. It has not only been unusually warm but it has been sunny nearly every day and not at all windy. Due to the lack of cold nights earlier on we didn't have brilliant fall foliage but we've had instead a steady more subtle transformation of the landscape; I don't think I've ever appreciated the subtlies in the colors of the oak leaves quite as much. I have a Viburnum carlesii (Korean spice viburnum) right outside our kitchen windows, off the deck, and it has never had such brilliant color. Today, November 20, it still has its leaves--unheard of this late in the season. My fothergilla has been as brilliantly colored as one I once saw in Pittsburg at the botanical garden there in late October. Before I saw that one I was unaware of just how colorful these shrubs can be given a long, slow decrease in fall temperatures. The hydrangea and the spiraea were also exceptionally colorful this year, and, though I hate to mention it, the barberry had never spoken to me before...I saw one on a street in Rockland the other day that blew me away with the range of oranges and reds in its repertoire. I am usually one to promote the eradication of this invasive plant but for that one I wished I'd had my camera! Luckily I did bring my camera on the walk I took along Appleton Ridge Road through the blueberry barrens at the top.

Coming along fine, thank you

Rehabilitation is coming along. Taking walks every day to keep the process going. We continue to have a warm and beautful fall here; the blueberry barrens are particularly striking right now so finding an exciting place to walk is not difficult. Megan and I walked on Beauchamp Point in Rockport today. Lovely. Lucky to live on the coast of Maine. I should have had my camera with me.